Chapter 17 Summary

The cardinal reminds the king more than once not to ask the queen about the diamonds until the night before the ball, which makes the king suspicious. King Louis has often been annoyed that the cardinal seems to know things about his kingdom before he does. He decides to have a conversation with the queen to see if he can discover what the cardinal's knowledge is, and afterward impress his minister with his own understanding. However, rather than finding out anything himself, he inadvertently forewarns the queen that she will be expected to wear the diamonds to the ball. In her distress, the queen confides the difficulty to Madame Bonancieux, who promises her that she will get her husband to help retrieve the diamonds. She advises the queen to write a message to Buckingham, which Madame Bonancieux will take to her husband, who...